Last year, global population breached the seven-billion mark - a rise of one bilion since 1999. Current estimates by the UN Population Fund suggest that it will continue to rise, before peaking at approximately nine billion in 2045.
Most of the growth will take place in developing nations, many of them among the world’s least-developed countries, and will be concentrated among the poorest populations in urban areas.
Given the deep challenges facing the world – climate change and the food, fuel and financial crises – it is not surprising that this landmark has generated some alarm. The population debate is seldom free from hyperbole, from Thomas Malthus’s gloomy predictions in 1798 to Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 book ‘The Population Bomb’. The modern spectres of resource depletion and slums, coupled with perennial immigration fears, have only added to this sense of a world ‘bursting at the seams’.
Managing our numbers should rightly be a priority - it is as much about human rights as it is about sustainability. There are 215 million women, for instance, who would like to use family planning, but are unable to access it.
Yet discussing population remains controversial - it will likely not be a priority issue at the Rio + 20 summit this June.
One reason could be that a narrow focus on numbers can mask the need to address other issues, such as consumption and equal opportunity. It also detracts from proper analysis of who the ‘seven billion’ are. Take the two billion people who are currently malnourished. Half are hungry, half are obese, with no clear dividing line between rich and poor countries.
How should we adjust to these challenges and opportunities?
Forum expert panel
UNA-UK has put together an expert panel to debate these issues:
- David Nussbaum, Chief Executive of WWF UK (panel chair) - read WWF UK's latest report, Living Planet, which cites as its key finding 'humanity's demands exceed our planet's capacity to sustain us'.
- Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UN Population Fund- click here to watch a UNFPA film on empowering women and girls
- Alison Marshall, Public Affairs Director, UNICEF UK - over half the world's population now lives in cities. Read the State of the World's Children, which looks at the impacts of urbanisation on child poverty.
- Sara Parkin OBE, Founder, Forum for the Future, and patron of Population Matters - watch Ms Parkin speak at a major population conference last year
- Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Director of Policy Initiatives, Women and Population, UN Foundation - read her recent Huffington Post article on universal access to family planning
Take our poll
Do you think population growth is the biggest sustainability challenge we face?
Take our poll and let us know your thoughts:
- Tweet: #UNForum2012
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- Email: website@una.org.uk
Get inspired
- Click here to read the January 2011 issue of UNA-UK's magazine New World, which featured a lead article on population
- Visit the UN Population Fund website for the latest UN news, reports and programmes
- Check out more brilliant data visualisations by statistician and TED contributor Hans Rosling
